The venom from the ectoparasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) contains at least 80 different proteins and possibly even more peptides or other small chemical compounds, demonstrating its appealing therapeutic application. To better understand the dynamics of the venom in mammalian cells, two high-throughput screening tools were performed. The venom induced pathways rela...

The innate immune system in insects consists of a conserved core signaling network and rapidly diversifying effector and recognition components, often containing a high proportion of taxonomically-restricted genes. In the absence of functional annotation, genes encoding immune system proteins can thus be difficult to identify, as homology-based approaches generally cannot detect lineage-specifi...

Male insects may increase their chance of successful reproduction by releasing pheromones that attract females or elicit sexual acceptance. In parasitic wasps, male pheromones have been suggested for a few species but no chemicals have been identified so far. Here we report the first identification of a male sex pheromone in parasitic Hymenoptera. In abdomens of male jewel wasps, Nasonia vitrip...

Living in seasonally changing environments requires adaptation to seasonal cycles. Many insects use the change in day length as a reliable cue for upcoming winter and respond to shortened photoperiod through diapause. In this study, we report the clinal variation in photoperiodic diapause induction in populations of the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis collected along a latitudinal gradient ...

An extrachromosomal factor, termed son-killer (sk), affects the sex ratio in a parasitoid wasp, Nasonia (=Mormoniella) vitripennis. The factor is maternally transmitted and alters the secondary sex ratio of an infected female through mortality of approximately 80% of the male embryos. No effect on the primary (zygotic) sex ratio is observed. Ninety-five percent of the daughters of an infected f...